Unknown-1If you think having a teacher’s pet or the boss’s useless son is bad for the office, wait till you see what happens when there is love in the office. I’m not about to get up on some moralistic high horse here but I think I can prove what others really think about office relationships.

I used to be totally nonchalant about these things, after all, once you’re out of school, where else are you going to find love? In fact at Synamics, in one situation, I went on to foster and encourage an office relationship.

Sometimes I do get wiser though and have come to realize that love in the office isn’t any good for the office.

Proof in point: Survivor. Yes I do love being able to study management and strategy with Survivor. I have now seen every single episode of every year and think it is one of the best shows ever created because you can watch interpersonal dynamics and strategy in the raw.

Whenever two people in Survivor look like they’re about to become a couple, one of them gets voted out. In fact, the surest way to get voted out is to look like you’ve got an unbreakable bond with one particular person.

It’s not just because contestants are threatened by a voting block, it’s because of fairness. Intrinsically, each person wants to think they’re being treated in an equal and fair manner by each other person. (Or in the case of Survivor, an equally unfair manner.)

The existence of another couple in a relationship means that outsiders are cut out of an equal chance for being treated in an unbiased manner.The people in the relationship will naturally favour each other to the detriment of those outside the relationship.

And so it is in the office. Even where couples aren’t in the same department, if they have to work together, others will feel that they are being treated in a less than equal fashion.

But in the end, if love is in the air, go for it. Life isn’t perfect and neither is work. Who cares about the office anyway? Your career won’t comfort you when you’re old and grey.

If you’re watching just such a relationship, get over it. Shit happens.